Worth did not drink, but Hillard did not like his handsome face any the more for this virtue. He sang remarkably well, however, and with a willingness Hillard had not believed he possessed. He wondered vaguely why he disliked the man. He had never met him before, and knew nothing at all about him. It was one of those inexplicable things which can not be answered. Otherwise Hillard enjoyed himself vastly. He found these people full of hope, light-hearted, generous, intelligent, and generally improvident. "Mr. Merrihew has been telling me all about you," said Kitty. "You mean, of course, my good qualities," replied Hillard. "To hear him talk, one would think that you possessed nothing else. But I am sure that you have glaring faults, such as a man might pass over and a woman go round." "I believed that Merrihew had a serious fault till to-night," he said; and he made no attempt to disguise the admiration in his eyes. She looked at him quickly and colored. It was a good sign. "Has the foolish boy been telling you that I refused to marry him? I like him very much," she added gravely; "but I shall never marry any man till I have ceased to love the stage. Just now I can not wisely love anything else." "I understand," he said. "I am not a whit less extravagant than he is. How could the two of us live on an income which he himself admits that he can not live within? But that isn't it; a million would not make any difference. I am like a young colt; I have no desire to be harnessed yet. A month after I am gone he will forget all about me; or, at least, he will only recollect me with a sigh of relief. There will be others; only I hope they will treat him as frankly as I have done." "Merrihew is the most loyal man I know," Hillard declared, bound to defend his comrade against this shrewd insight to his character. "Of course he is loyal! And he is always in earnest--for the moment." She laughed. "But if he marries any one while I am gone, I shall hate him." And then they both laughed. "I'll wager another magnum," cried Merrihew from across the room, "that I'm the subject under discussion." "Another magnum!" murmured O'Mally rapturously. "No more magnums," said Kitty resolutely. "On abstract principles, then!" insisted Merrihew. "You win," Kitty replied merrily. "We have been saying only nice things about you." It was outrageously late, nearly four, when the revelers took leave of their hostess. Merrihew was happy with that evanescent happiness which goes hand in glove with late suppers and magnums. In the morning he would have a headache. "Isn't she a little wonder, Jack? Do you blame me?" "Not at all, Dan. It might be a good thing for you to marry a sensible little woman like that. But she won't have you." "No, she won't." Merrihew reached for his watch. "Four A.M. Wonder if we can't find another bottle somewhere." "You are going home, my boy." "All right, if you say so,"--good-humoredly. "Say, what do you think of that man Worth?"